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Freycinet

Andy100

9-Sep-2011
4:13:34 PM

Hey Guys,

I'm heading to Tassie in December to do the overland track and would really like to visit Freycinet and do some climbing. Problem is I don't have my own trad rack (and would be a bit nervous leading trad as I've only ever seconded).

I'm going to head to Hillwood for some sport climbs but Freycinet just looks amazing.

I know it's not ideal but would I be able to do any of the cliff routes top roping?

gfdonc

9-Sep-2011
4:48:41 PM

Yes you can. I assume you mean 'with a partner'.

Whitewater wall is long (some routes are 2-pitch), but top-ropeable from the top of the cliff. Belays might be tricky to set up, but not impossible.

It's possible to get to the top of Harlequin with some scrambling, but might be intimidating.
Something like Beowulf is ideally set up for top-roping. You'll understand.

Andy100

9-Sep-2011
5:04:20 PM

Perfect, thanks for the help :) Would be a pain to get all the way there and then not be able to climb at all.

phillipivan

9-Sep-2011
5:23:23 PM

There are plenty of cliffs where you would be able to top rope easily enough. White Water Wall would require an unusually long rope, but there is alot near it which would be easy. Lassie's Wall is the easiest place to begin, both in terms of access and climbing grades.

Having a small trad rack would make building TR anchors much easier though.

Beowulf is a great climb, but would not be a great place to start your TRing in Freycinet.

widewetandslippery

9-Sep-2011
5:56:22 PM

Worthwile place to go without the rocks and th rocks are good. 2nd the notion some gear and very very long slings may be wanted for tope roping

Doug

9-Sep-2011
9:08:29 PM

Whitewater Wall is not ideal for setting up a top rope, but there are plenty of alternatives, most notably Lassie's Wall as previously mentioned.
You would definitely want some gear (including large but not huge cams) and long slings to set up your TR's. It's probably worth just bringing a standard rack: you never know what you might get up to ...
Have fun!
:-)

rolsen1

10-Sep-2011
9:44:46 AM

I've done a fair bit of top roping there although it was more than 15 years ago. You will need some trad gear to top rope most of the routes, probably a handful of medium wires and maybe 1 or 2 medium cams as there aren't any belay bolts nor trees to top rope from. As discussed lassie's wall is good, routes such as light fingered madison can also be easily top roped. Harlequin has rings you could probably get to top rope off, if you can get to them, although from memory the rap lands you on the block rather than the ground?

Edit: Sorry didn't read the previous post well enough, agree with what he said...

Wendy

10-Sep-2011
10:37:41 AM

On 9/09/2011 phillipivan wrote:

>
>Having a small trad rack would make building TR anchors much easier though.
>

Would you want to climb on a trad anchor set up by someone who cannot lead trad?

If you need to place gear to set up an anchor, you need to know how to place gear and assess if it's any good.

Are there any areas with bolts/trees/bollards for set ups? They would seem much more appropriate.

rolsen1

10-Sep-2011
12:21:45 PM

On 10/09/2011 Wendy wrote:
>On 9/09/2011 phillipivan wrote:
>
>>
>>Having a small trad rack would make building TR anchors much easier though.
>>
>
>Would you want to climb on a trad anchor set up by someone who cannot
>lead trad?
>

That is what I did, and first did it at Freycinet, and I think Light Fingered Madison was the first route we top roped. We also climbed at lassies wall and a couple of other walls. We had already done heaps of top roping using trees and bolts at the local Hobart crags. I bought 2 & 3 HB quad cams and a bunch of wires and off we went.

In some ways I think learning to place gear by top roping is a great (but very slow) way to learn to place trad. There is nothing that makes you trust your placements more than rapping off them.

Obviously you want to look into the theory of placing trad, maybe get a good book or use the web. But if you build the anchors with your partner making sure you have 3 good placements, make sure one of you weights/jumps on the ropes while the other one checks to see how the gear is weighted.

btw, there are some moderate sport routes around the inland crags like grace lands, I think.

Wendy

10-Sep-2011
12:38:14 PM

On 10/09/2011 rolsen1 wrote:
>On 10/09/2011 Wendy wrote:

>
>In some ways I think learning to place gear by top roping is a great (but
>very slow) way to learn to place trad. There is nothing that makes you
>trust your placements more than rapping off them.
>
>Obviously you want to look into the theory of placing trad, maybe get
>a good book or use the web. But if you build the anchors with your partner
>making sure you have 3 good placements, make sure one of you weights/jumps
>on the ropes while the other one checks to see how the gear is weighted.

pfft! books and the web aren't exactly good ways of learning to place good gear! and i'd be going for a lot more than 3 placements when you effectively have 2 people with bugger all idea assessing if they are any good. I'm sure i've told this story before, but an ex of mine went climbing with this guy he'd just met, the guy leads the first pitch of arachnus, jason follows and doesn't think to check his belay. 3rd person coming up falls off. as the guy belaying is pulled onto the gear, all 3 pieces fail and jason grabs the back of the guy's harness and the rock. This now being the only thing preventing all 3 falling to the deck. I'm sure that guy thought he had 3 good placements in though.

rolsen1

10-Sep-2011
12:49:55 PM

On 10/09/2011 Wendy wrote:
>On 10/09/2011 rolsen1 wrote:
>>On 10/09/2011 Wendy wrote:
>
>>
>>In some ways I think learning to place gear by top roping is a great
>(but
>>very slow) way to learn to place trad. There is nothing that makes you
>>trust your placements more than rapping off them.
>>
>>Obviously you want to look into the theory of placing trad, maybe get
>>a good book or use the web. But if you build the anchors with your partner
>>making sure you have 3 good placements, make sure one of you weights/jumps
>>on the ropes while the other one checks to see how the gear is weighted.
>
>pfft! books and the web aren't exactly good ways of learning to place
>good gear! and i'd be going for a lot more than 3 placements when you effectively
>have 2 people with bugger all idea assessing if they are any good. I'm
>sure i've told this story before, but an ex of mine went climbing with
>this guy he'd just met, the guy leads the first pitch of arachnus, jason
>follows and doesn't think to check his belay. 3rd person coming up falls
>off. as the guy belaying is pulled onto the gear, all 3 pieces fail and
>jason grabs the back of the guy's harness and the rock. This now being
>the only thing preventing all 3 falling to the deck. I'm sure that guy
>thought he had 3 good placements in though.
>
>

I'm waiting to be picked up to go to the footy so I'll bite.

Yes, I agree that good instruction is best way to learn if fact I've argued here before that I think it takes a really long time, lots of different routes and lots of reflective conversations. However, as a guess, half the people on here would have mostly taught themselves, especially if you look at the older climbers.

About your story and thinking your gear is good vs knowing, that's why top roping is good way to learn, your placements are always tested.

Doug

10-Sep-2011
3:15:54 PM

On 10/09/2011 Wendy wrote:
>Are there any areas with bolts/trees/bollards for set ups? They would
>seem much more appropriate.

Not really at the top of either Lassies or Light Fingered Madison. There are, however, fantastic deep tapering cracks on top of both areas. Anyone with a little bit of experience placing or removing trad gear should be able to set up a safe belay. If not then it's probably best to give the sea crags a miss.
It MAY be possible to set tree anchors at the top of some of the routes on Ocean Boulevard (just near Lassies check out the guide: http://www.thesarvo.com/confluence/display/thesarvo/Lassies+Wall+and+Harlequin
In terms of Whitewater Wall itself, while there are trees at the top, it is very sloping and loose and I would definitely advise against trying to set up top-ropes there, for both safety and environmental reasons.
Re the top of Harlequin, it's a bit tricky getting down through the chimney (even if you know where you going) and the only route at a relatively moderate grade you can top-rope from there is Harlequin itself. Although the guide says it's a 35 metre pitch, a doubled 60 metre rope will get you comfortably to the base (not the block as someone suggested above).
There's a good chance that there will be other people there that you might be able to hook up with. If not, it's a beautiful place to hang for a day or three anyway.

kuu

10-Sep-2011
4:09:08 PM

On 10/09/2011 Doug Bruce wrote:
>
>If not, it's a beautiful place to hang for a day
>or three anyway.

Yes, much of the east coast, and the Freycinet Peninsula in particular, lies in a rain shadow area meaning it can be dry when elsewhere is rather wet. So if you happen to experience 'less-than-favourable' weather on the Overland Track you may relish the chance to dry out in the Coles Bay region.

There's pleasant walking available also (to Wineglass Bay and so forth) if you tire of the beautiful serenity of camping at Whitewater Wall.

There are 13 messages in this topic.